Budget to be tabled on March 16

The government on Tuesday said the Budget will be presented on March 16, more than two weeks later than usual, on account of assembly polls in five states. The annual financial statement along with the Finance Bill and the Appropriations Bill will be presented by FM Pranab Mukherjee four days after the Budget session starts with President Pratibha Patil's address to both Houses of Parliament. This will be followed by a debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address. The rail Budget will be presented on March 14 and the Economic Survey - the document that provides and overall assessment of the economic situation - will be tabled on March 15. "We will be recommending to the President that Budget session may be summoned on March 12 and continue up to March 30," parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA). The minister was hopeful of Opposition's co-operation in transaction of financial business.

Source: Times of India